Saturday, 30 April 2011

Guilt, a five lettered word that extends it's influence beyond the dictionary definition. In my time as a cyclist is has been a friend and and foe, but thankfully never my master. Currently I stand at the threshold of Autumn and soon Winter. But in the days of the falling leaves the decisions that we all make now will shape the Spring and Summer that comes. We can do very little to influence the weather, friends or the financial climate. We can, thankfully, plan a course of action which will leave the rider with breath in your lungs rather than struggling up Toys Hill like a 40 a day smoker.

Guilt can inspire you to do more, the flipside of that coin is that it can pin you down like a rabbit in the headlights, the blessed irony that this is a fate you can decide. For me this will lead to using a Training Plan I received from a Coach last year. It helped, giving me focus when I saw little of the sun and the warmth of Spring seemed far off.

Like many of you I enjoy being fit, the feeling that you get when you have that little bit extra zip in your legs, is worth the winter sweat earned in the garage. If you have ever seen that great footage of Merckx on the rollers, hammering out the miles, it gives me great cause for inspiration. If you haven't watch it below, and then watch it again.

My goals for next year are not set, but come November the 1st my training is back in action. Life will try to throw some spanners in the works, but with a mapped out plan it is easy to pull yourself back as the guilt draws you back if you have missed more than one session.

So guilt can be both a positive motivator and it can also inhibit you, it depends on how you react to it.